Gaming devices which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming devices generally require the player to place or make a wager to activate the primary or base game. In many of these gaming devices, the award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager, the higher the award). Symbols or symbol combinations which are less likely to occur usually provide higher awards.
In such known gaming devices, typically, the amount of the wager made on the primary game by the player may vary. For instance, the gaming device may enable the player to wager a minimum number of credits, such as one credit (e.g., one penny, nickel, dime, quarter or dollar), up to a maximum number of credits, such as five credits. This wager may be made by the player a single time or multiple times in a single play of the primary game. For instance, a slot game may have one or more paylines and the slot game may enable the player to make a wager on each payline in a single play of the primary game. Thus, it is known that a gaming device, such as a slot gaming device, may enable players to make wagers of substantially different amounts on each play of the primary or base game ranging, for example, from 1 credit up to 125 credits (e.g., 5 credits on each of 25 separate paylines). Accordingly, it should be appreciated that different players play at substantially different wagering amounts or levels and at substantially different rates of play.
While players generally understand the various wagering aspects of gaming devices and generally understand that the outcomes are randomly generated, many players do not understand exactly how various gaming devices actually generate the random numbers or how various gaming devices use the randomly generated numbers to generate and display symbols and any awards associated with winning symbols or combinations of the symbols.
Various known gaming devices such as various slot gaming devices include a pseudo-random number generator (“pRNG”). The pRNG uses software to generate a series of outcomes in what appears to be a random pattern, insofar as this series of outcomes satisfies established mathematical tests for unpredictability and randomness. The technical designation of “pseudo” in pseudo-random number generator indicates that the outcome generation follows an exact sequence relative to the starting state (often referred to as a seed) and the algorithm employed to generate the next outcome based on the current pRNG state. However, an effective algorithm, such as a Marsaglia generator, a Mersenne Twister, or the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,400 to Yfantis, produces a series of outcomes that cannot be predicted without knowledge of the algorithm and state. Similarly, an effective algorithm has a very long cycle length until the sequence of numbers repeats. That is, the cycle length is long enough to make pattern matching impractical. Finally, the most effective application of pRNG algorithms will continually burn through or “eat” outcomes while waiting for a request by the application for a random outcome. Thus, regulated pRNG algorithms in slot machines typically step through outcomes between new games launched by a player.
Almost all of the pRNG generated numbers are not used to determine outcomes of plays of the game of the gaming device. When a player of the gaming device presses or activates the appropriate play button, the processor of the gaming device obtains a series of the next numbers generated by the pRNG. In other words, the series or string of generated numbers right as or right after (i.e., the millisecond) the play button is activated is obtained and used to determine which symbols will be displayed by each reel. In many known slot gaming devices, the selected generated numbers are used to determine numbers on virtual reels which are associated with specific symbols on the mechanical reels or video reels of the slot gaming device. This well known and widely commercially implemented process is explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,419 to Telnaes. For example, in a five reel slot machine, as or right after the play button is activated, the next five generated numbers are obtained from the pRNG and respectively used to determine where to stop each of the reels (i.e., each of the five numbers is used for a different one of the five reels to determine the symbol or symbols on that reel to display).
Accordingly, for each play of the slot game, the outcome or symbols displayed by each of the reels, which is based on the numbers obtained from the pRNG, depend on the exact millisecond when the play button is activated. If the play button is activated earlier or later for any play of the slot game (i.e., even by a millisecond earlier or later), different numbers are used to determine the symbols generated by the reels for that play of the game, and thus the outcome or symbols generated for that play of the slot game will be will likely be different. Even if the player continuously activates the play button as fast as humanly possible, as mentioned above, the pRNG generates so many numbers so quickly that only a very small amount of the pRNG generated numbers are actually used to determine actual outcomes for the plays of the game.
This multi-layer configuration is part of the how gaming devices protect against cheating. More specifically, if the same numbers are always input into the pRNG, the pRNG will always generate the same numbers in the same order. Thus, if a player knew the algorithm, state, and any external variables (e.g., time of day) used in the algorithm, the player could technically calculate each of the generated numbers and determine the symbols which will be generated using those numbers, and thus outcomes. However, even if the player knows this information, the player does not know how many random numbers were generated from one activation of the play button to the next activation of the play button, and it is practically impossible for a player to activate the play button at a beneficial time.
When treated as a black box whose inner workings are not known, a pRNG can be, and in the gaming industry usually is, referred to simply as a random number generator (“RNG”). There is, however, an important distinction between a pRNG and an RNG because electro-mechanical devices exist that can produce a random stream of outcomes without employing a pRNG. For example, the time delay between alpha particle emissions from a radioactive material is random. Devices exist to measure this delay and generate random bit streams therefrom without utilizing pRNG algorithms. Such devices are referred to as a “true RNG” or simply “RNG.” However, the present disclosure contemplates employing any type of pRNG or RNG irrespective of how that pRNG or RNG is implemented and irrespective of the fact that modern slot machines primarily if not exclusive rely on a pRNG implementation. Thus, a pRNG and an RNG are referred to interchangeably herein.
Certain known gaming devices or systems display visual game play histories of previous outcomes or wins and losses (or possibly only wins) for a designated quantity of previous plays of the game, such as by: (a) displaying the results numerically; (b) using a bar graph where the height of the bar indicated the award value (with the amount shown numerically at the top of at least some of the taller bars); and (c) displaying text-based and/or graphics-based depiction of each prior outcome, especially for games played online or via mobile devices.
Certain other known gaming devices configured to operate a selection game display awards that are associated with unpicked selections and that are not provided to a player. One of these gaming devices displays a plurality of selections, each of which is associated with an award, to a player. Each of the awards is masked such that the player does not know the award associated with any of the selections. The gaming device enables the player to pick a predetermined quantity of the selections, reveals the award associated with each picked selection, and provides the revealed award to the player. After the player has picked the predetermined quantity of selections, the gaming device reveals the award associated with each unpicked selection.
Certain other known gaming devices display an attract mode when not being played by a player. The attract mode is configured to attract players to the gaming devices and to encourage players to play the gaming devices. In one of these gaming devices, while the attract mode is being implemented the gaming device displays one or more predetermined plays of one or more games resulting in one or more predetermined outcomes.
However, no known gaming devices display any indication of the numbers which are generated by the RNG but which are not used for plays of the game. In other words, known gaming machines do not use the numbers generated by the RNG that would have been used if the player would have activated the play button one or more microseconds faster or slower to display any indication of the outcomes or associated awards that would have been generated if the player activated the play button sooner or later. Also, no known gaming devices display what symbols or outcomes would have occurred had the player activated the play button at a time prior to or after the player does so, such as at an exact right time to win a jackpot award.
Thus, there is a continuing need to provide new and different gaming devices and gaming systems as well as new and different ways to display awards provided to players or awards which could have been provided to players of those gaming devices and gaming systems in order to: (a) help players see and understand that outcomes are being generated continuously and thus not based on prior outcomes or other unfair mechanisms, as many players mistakenly believe; (b) provide players a greater sense of the potential outcome distribution available from one or more games without playing those games a large number of times; and (c) provide players who enjoy trying to take advantage of machine patterns that they believe they can detect, who are sometimes referred to as “pattern players,” a new mode of play.